All about Google’s Instant / Predictive search feature launched September 8, 2010

Google Testing New ‘Search Within’ Tool; Also, Bigger URLs In Search Results

Mar 14, 2013 at 2:21pm ET by Matt McGee

Here are a couple current user interface changes that Google appears to be testing. Search Within The first one comes to us from Tecno-Net, and shows Google adding a "Search Within" command to its Google Instant interface. When you do certain searches -- like [CNN], [Apple] or [Google] -- one of the options that Google Instant shows is "Search Within," which allows you to limit your search to the specific website. If that doesn't quite make sense, Tecno-Net's video should make it more clear: Bigger Green URLS One other test involves larger text on the green-colored URL that Google s [...]

Google Removed The Pirate Bay From Instant Search

Sep 10, 2012 at 4:35pm ET by Barry Schwartz

TorrentFreak reports Google has removed The Pirate Bay from showing up in Google's search suggestions within Google Instant Search. Google Instant Search will auto-complete the search phrase based on search popularity and other factors. Prior to today, Google would auto-complete for the domain thepiratebay but now, Google has added that to their piracy filter list. In January 2011, Google removed many piracy related searches from showing up in Instant Search. They included the popular piracy sites and terms "torrent," "BitTorrent" and others. Today, The Pirate Bay made the list of pir [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Google: Web Search | Top News

How Google Autocomplete Can Affect Your Brand’s SEO & ORM Strategy

Aug 27, 2012 at 11:29am ET by Brian Patterson

Have you ever typed a company name into Google and been instantly greeted with words like ‘scam’ or ‘complaints’ by Google Autocomplete? That can’t be good for business, and it is a situation that more and more organizations are finding themselves in. Being part of a firm that is heavily involved in Online Reputation Management (ORM), we take on a wide range of tasks. There is a bit of everything, from helping individuals clean up search results for their names to partnering with corporations to identify and fix reputation problems. One of the most common issues we get now, fro [...]

Google Instant: Only On When Your Computer Can Handle It

Feb 6, 2012 at 9:48am ET by Barry Schwartz

As part of the January search update provided by Google - Google Instant has a new default preference. The new preference is to only enable it if your computer can handle it - otherwise, Google will disable Google Instant results. If you go to the search preferences it should say Google Instant is only enabled when "my computer is fast enough" and then show if Google thinks your computer is or is not fast enough. Here is a picture: Google said: Automatically disable Google Instant based on computer speed. [project codename "Psychic Search"] Google Instant has long had the ability to [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Top News

Google Instant Costs Google $65,000 In France

Dec 29, 2011 at 1:24pm ET by Barry Schwartz

The Local, a French newspaper, reports Google France was ordered to pay €50,000 ($64,670) to Lyonnaise de Garantie, a French insurance company over a search suggestion that had them labeled as being a "crook." In the case of this French company, when you typed in their company name, Lyonnaise de Garantie it suggested at the end of the name escroc, which means crook or swindler. Google lost the case and was ordered to pay €50,000 ($64,670). As you know, Google's Search Suggestions, part of Google Instant, shows search result completions as you type. The suggestions are based off of [...]

Even Google Thinks “Romney Can’t Win”

Oct 28, 2011 at 4:56pm ET by Danny Sullivan

US presidential candidate Republican Mitt Romney can't seem to catch a break even from Google. Not only does it suggest that he can't win, if you start typing in Romney's name, but if you disagree, Google tries to correct you. Suggestion: Romney Can't Win Start typing in Romney, and Google as its top suggestion "romney can't win," as you can see below: Did You Really Mean He Can Win? Romney believers who ignore the suggestion and go on to search for "romney can win" get this response: "Did you mean: romney can't win" -- that's Google's spell checking system kicking in. Don't Bla [...]

Where Did Cached Pages Go On Google?

Oct 19, 2011 at 9:56am ET by Barry Schwartz

Since Google launched the new instant previews just about a month ago, the question we have seen come up from searchers time and time again is "where did the cached page go?" Yes, Google has moved the "cached" and "similar" links from near the display URL in the search results and to the instant preview section. To see it yourself, when you conduct a search, mouse over the search result and you should see a little bar and arrow show up on the right of the search result snippet. Either hold it there or click on it: When you click on it, a preview of the page will open up to [...]

Google Instant Previews Via Mouse Over

Sep 22, 2011 at 2:51pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has announced an improvement to their instant previews feature they originally launched in November of last year. The improvement lets you simply hover your mouse over a search result and the preview will automatically show up on the right hand preview column. Google said: Now these previews are no longer even a click away: if you move your mouse over a search result, arrows will appear. Hover over them to see a visual preview of that result. Here is a picture: I personally do not see this feature yet, but many have reported seeing this being tested for months now and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Google: Web Search

Google Tests Smooth Animated Instant Previews Effect

Aug 25, 2011 at 9:41am ET by Barry Schwartz

Mark Reynolds documented new instant previews functionality implemented, as a test, by Google. Google Instant Previews launched in November 2009 and since then has undergone many updates and changes. This new change seems to give a more animated, transition feel to when you activate the instant preview. It is a smooth and slower pop out of the instant preview than what Google first launched with. Mark provided this nice video that shows the new interface in action: Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required. I personally still see the old fashion interface fo [...]

Flash Support For Google Instant Previews

May 6, 2011 at 11:30am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google announced they are now adding Flash support to their instant previews. Google Instant Previews launched in November, giving Google searchers a way to preview the landing page of the search results prior to visiting the page. When it first launched it did not support Flash web sites and the previews were not fully visible on those results. But now, Google is rolling out Instant Previews for Flash based web sites. Google offers tips on ensuring your Flash sites display well within the Instant Previews: Make sure that your site has a reasonable, seamless experience for visitors [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Google: Web Search

Google Instant’s Autocomplete Now Also Works On Word-By-Word Basis

Apr 21, 2011 at 9:05am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google announced they have improved the Google Instant autocomple suggestions feature to work better at suggesting particular words, in addition to full search phrases. Google explained that many searches done at Google were never done before, so offering up predictions on a long tail query can be complex. But if you look at only part of the query, the chances of that query being done before at Google increases tremendously. The example given by Google was [florida state senate building], where the four word query is not all that common, but the query [state senate building] is much mor [...]

Google Instant Now On New Google Toolbar 7

Apr 19, 2011 at 7:20pm ET by Matt McGee

Google Instant continues to spread. The company has just announced that it's one of several new features on Google Toolbar 7 for Internet Explorer 8 and 9. Google Instant has to be activated via the Toolbar Options menu, and once it's on, Instant works the same way it does on Google.com. The Escape button on your keyboard takes you back to the page you were on before you started searching. Another new feature is personalization on the toolbar -- the tools you use most will remain visible, while others will be moved to a "More" button. Finally, Google has collected all of its priva [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Google: Toolbar

How Google Instant’s Autocomplete Suggestions Work

Apr 6, 2011 at 6:27pm ET by Danny Sullivan

It's a well known feature of Google. Start typing in a search, and Google offers suggestions before you've even finished typing. But how does Google come up with those suggestions? When does Google remove some suggestions? When does Google decide not to interfere? Come along for some answers. Google & Search Suggestions Google was not the first search engine to offer search suggestions, nor it is the only one. But being the most popular search engine has caused many to look at Google's suggestions more closely. Google has been offering "Google Suggest" or "Autocomplete" on the Google [...]

Google Must Censor Google Instant In Italy For Derogatory Suggestions

Apr 5, 2011 at 1:47pm ET by Barry Schwartz

ZDNet UK reports the Court of Milan has ruled that Google has to filter the auto-completions that Google Instant provides in Italy. The issue is that someone was searching for a particular name and Google offered search completions for the name with con man or fraud. The individual sued forcing Google to filter out those suggestions and won, requiring Google remove any libellous search suggestions for his name. The Court of Milan upheld that ruling on March 31st. The court felt the auto-completions were something being produced by Google and thus did not fall under the protection of th [...]

Google Instant Now For Google Places

Mar 28, 2011 at 9:45am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has launched Google Instant Search for Google Place search results. To see this yourself, conduct a search on Google and then click on "Places" in the left-hand panel. Then type in the search box and Google Instant will predict and auto fill your searches. Here is an example query for pizza: Google continues to roll out Google Instant on their vertical search features. Last month, Google Product Search gained Instant Search and Google promises to "continue to expand Instant to all views, languages and domains over the next few months." This roll out comes the week afte [...]

Yahoo Search Direct Takes On Google Instant By Providing Answers In The Search Box

Mar 23, 2011 at 1:23pm ET by Greg Sterling

Yahoo CTO Blake Irving introduced Yahoo's challenge to Google Instant, "Search Direct," at a press event today at the offices of Yahoo's PR agency. (See Danny's head to head comparison of Yahoo and Google Instant.) Before diving into the news, Irving first reviewed Yahoo's strategy (presented as a periodic table). Yahoo Instant Search Take Two Irving then moved on to the main event: Search Direct. The simple way to describe it is as Yahoo's version of Google's Instant Search but with richer content. It's intended to apply to both the PC and mobile experiences (including tablets). Irvi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Instant | Top News | Yahoo: Search | Yahoo: Search Ads

Google Adds Video Instant Previews To Some Results

Mar 14, 2011 at 10:39am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has added a new type of instant previews to the Google search results. The new previews are designed specifically for video results. The video instant previews show you several frames from a video and may even play the video preview when you mouse over the thumbnail image. I should not, not all video results have instant previews, the video providers have to opt to show these previews. How Instant Video Previews Work: (1) Search Google or Google Video search and look for a video result. (2) Mouse over or click on the magnifying glass preview icon. (3) A drop down of 4 f [...]

Google Instant Now On Product Search

Feb 7, 2011 at 9:29am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google announced they have added Google Instant to Google Shopping Search view within the web results. If you are on Google.com, search for a product and then filter your search on the left hand side by "Shopping", Google Instant will allow you to search for new products. Interestingly enough, this does not seem to work off the Google Product Search home page. Here is a screen shot: Google said, "now you can shop faster than ever and get the speed of Google Instant when comparing prices, looking for nearby stores and learning about products you want to buy." Keep in mind, af [...]

Google’s “Instant Previews” Now On iOS (iPhone/iPad) Browser

Jan 30, 2011 at 8:27pm ET by Barry Schwartz

9to5Mac reports Google's instant previews is now on Google's search results on iOS devices. Instant Previews, which was introduced on Google's desktop results back in November 2010, enables you to see a preview of the web page before you click through to that page. Many iOS users on both iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices are reporting seeing the instant previews button on the right side of the search result. The icon looks like a magnifying glass and seems to replace the "star" icon used to bookmark (or starred results) your favorite results in Google. Here is a picture of the in [...]

Google Removes Piracy-Related Terms From Instant Search

Jan 26, 2011 at 8:07pm ET by Matt McGee

As it promised in early December, Google has begun to remove terms associated with piracy from producing search results in Google Instant Search, and from appearing in Google Suggest. That includes searches involving the word "torrent" as well as "BitTorrent," which is both the name of a company in San Francisco that produces torrent software, as well as the peer-to-peer sharing protocol itself. Google promised this was coming in a December 2, 2010 blog post that addressed several issues related to copyright protection. The company said it would remove terms like this from autocomplete: [...]

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